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Martin O`Malley on Jobs
Democrat
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Extend unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless
Q: Your unemployment rate [in Maryland], 6.4%, is slightly below the current national number.O'MALLEY: The most it's been in since the depths of the recession.
Q: Republicans are saying, after 6 years, this is not emergency aid, this is something
you have to factor in and pay for in the budget. What's wrong with that logic?
O'MALLEY: Well, a lot of the ideologues that now steer the Republican Party always seem to find money for continued tax cuts for the wealthiest 1% of Americans. But when it
comes to those moms and dads that are still looking for work after a huge structural recession, they start squawking about fiscal responsibility. The way you make an economy grow is from consumer demand. And every economist will tell you that if workers
have less money, they will spend less and your consumer demand will go down and your economy will not grow. So if only from an economic growth standpoint, we should be extending unemployment benefits for those that are still out there searching for work.
Source: CNN SOTU 2014 interview series: 2016 presidential hopefuls
, Jan 12, 2014
Raise minimum wage to $10 per hour
Q: You are pushing the federal government to raise the minimum wage?O'MALLEY: Well, it's interesting, if you look at the minimum wage since 1968, and if it had merely kept pace with inflation, it would be a little above $10 an hour. If it had kept
pace with productivity, it would be $20 an hour. And if it had kept pace with the earnings of the top 1 percent of Americans, it would be $28 an hour.
Q: So which one do you like?
O'MALLEY: I think we're zeroing in on around a $10 an hour minimum
wage in Maryland, where, over the last five years, our people have achieved the distinction of attaining the highest median income of any state in the nation, the best public schools of any state in the nation.
And we went four years in a row without a penny's increase to college tuition, because we believe in expanding opportunity to grow our middle class, to drive consumer demand. And that's why we're coming out of this recession better than other states.
Source: CNN SOTU 2014 interview series: 2016 presidential hopefuls
, Jan 12, 2014
We have driven unemployment down to a three-year low
Because of wise and balanced decisions about where to cut, and smart decisions about where to invest, Maryland's businesses are creating jobs again. Last year, Maryland businesses created more new jobs than we have in any year since this recession hit,
and we have driven unemployment down to a three-year low.- By restoring fiscal responsibility with a balanced approach, you have secured Maryland's place as one of only a handful of states which earns a Triple A bond rating from all three rating
agencies.
- During FY2011, more than 205,000 Marylanders received services at Maryland's 35 One Stop Employment Centers, including more than 133,000 who received staff-assisted services.
- In December 2011, Maryland's unemployment rate improved to
6.7%--the lowest level since February 2009.
- Maryland is one of nine states to hold a Triple-A bond rating from all three major credit rating agencies (Moody's; S&P; and Fitch).
Source: 2012 Maryland State of the State Address
, Feb 3, 2012
Recovery & Reinvestment Act creates jobs; spend more locally
It all comes back to jobs. Building a more reliable power grid creates jobs. Rebuilding roads and renovating schools creates jobs. Building and restoring bridges creates jobs. Rebuilding water infrastructure and revitalizing community colleges
creates jobs. Building science labs creates jobs. The Recovery & Reinvestment Act--signed courageously by President Obama and implemented openly and transparently without the waste, fraud and abuse that the naysayers predicted--has
helped us create and save more than 15,000 jobs in the most recent quarter. And through our Capital Budget we can help create and retain 15,000 more. This includes jobs building and refurbishing schools, with the
$250 million investment we're once again proposing for school construction.
Source: 2011 Maryland State of the State Address
, Feb 3, 2011
Page last updated: Jan 19, 2015
